Rotary cutting and creasing press



July 18, 1950 B. J. DAVIDSON ROTARY CUTTING AND QREASING PRESS Filed Sept. 18, 1946 IN l/EN T0,?

Beucs J- 04 1/1050 ,5

W A 770 IVE Y Patented July 18, 1950 Bruce J. Davidson, Manhasset, N. Y., assignor to National Biscuit Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New J ersey Application September 18, 1946, Serial No. 697,713

3 Claims.

My-invention pertains to rotary cutting and creasing presses and has for its principal object to provide a rotary press that Will cut carton blanks having curved, angular or irregularly shaped closing and locking flaps and tongues in a continuous operation from a roll of cardboard of indefinite length.

The usual practice is to out such cartons from single sheets of cardboard on flat bed reciprocating presses. This involves considerable labor in cutting the cardboard into sheets before being fed to the press, in separating the various blanks and in knocking out the scrap pieces that must be left adhering to the blanks to prevent clogging of the cutting rules. Heretofore, rotary cutting and creasing presses were usually used for cutting only carton blanks that have straight line or rectangular flaps because of the extreme cost of fitting curved and angular rules to the curved faces of the cylinders.

According to the present invention, I provide the lower or rule bearing cylinder with flat faces in which the curved and angular rules are mounted and then compensate for these flattened faces by making corresponding raised curved faces on the pressure cylinder that will have a smooth rolling contact over the rules on the flattened faces. The cylinders are of such size as to permit the layout of an exact number of carton blanks on their circumferences. Thus in the case of a usual size of carton blank that requires 12% inches of material when interlocked with adjacent blanks, a cylinder or drum that is 98 inches in circumference is required to layout rules to cut and score eight blanks per revolution. The rule carrying cylinder will have eight flat faces fitted with rules to cut the flaps and tongues at the ends of the blanks and the cylindrical sectors between the flats will be fitted with rules to make the straight cuts and scores in the body of the blank. The pressure cylinder will have eight raised curved sections to roll over the rules on the flat faces and the same number of cylindrical sections to rollover the cutting and scoring rules on the intermediate cylindrical sectors. With each revolution of the cylinders eight carton blanks, or a multiple of eight, depending on the length of the cylinders, will be cut out and the operation will be continuous.

With the above general statement of the object and nature of the invention in mind, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings for a full description of one embodiment thereof.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly diagrammatic, of a cylinder press embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation, with parts broken away to show more clearly the construction of the cylinders.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing how the flat and bulged cylinder sections cooperate.

I have illustrated my invention as embodied in a machine adapted to cut out eight blanks for each rotation of the cylinders. However, this is not to be considered a limitation in the invention, but is for the purposes of illustration only. The cylinders may be fitted with any number of cutting and scoring rules within practicable limitations.

A frame ID has bearings ll, l2 on each side in which opposite ends of the shafts l3, l4 are rotatably supported and which carry the upper or pressure cylinder l5 and the lower or rule cylinder I6. One of the bearings, preferably the bearing l 2, is adjustable so as to vary the distance between the shafts l3, M to compensate for wear on the cylinders and to make adjustments for different thicknesses of material.

The shafts l3, l4 and cylinders l5, I6 are driven by gears ll, [8 which are secured to the shafts and whose pitch lines coincide or substantially coincide with the line of contact of the two cylinders. In operation, the cylinders It, It rotate in fixed relation to one another with their surfaces in contact.

The rule cylinder It has eight sections l9 who'se outer surfaces lie in the circumference of the cylinder and eight fiat sections 20, which are out below the surface of the cylinder, but whose edges terminate at the circumference.

Rules 2| for cutting and scoring the straight lines on the carton blanks are secured to the cylindrical sections l9 and the curved and angular rules 22 for cutting the irregularly shaped closing flaps and tongues on the ends of the carton blank are secured to the fiat faces 20.

The pressure cylinder I5 has eight cylindrical sections 23 which roll in contact with the edges of the rules in the sections Hi. It has an equal number of raised or bulged sections 24 which roll in contact with the rules on the fiat sections 20. The contact surface of each section 24, is the arc of a circle having a radius R which is less than the radius of the cylinder l5 as clearly shown in the diagram of Fig. 3. The radius of this section is selected so that the are at the center will project beyond the surface of the cylinder I5 an amount equal to the distance that the lowest part of the fiat faces 20 lies below the normal cylindrical surface of the cylinder I6. The arc meets the cylindrical surface of the cylinder at the edge of the section. It will thus be seen that the length of each outer face of the sections 24 is slightly greater than the width of the flat faces 20 on which the curved rules are mounted. Thus in the case illustrated, if the cylinders l5, l6 have a circumference of 98 inches, and are adapted to cut the usual size of carton previously referred to, the fiat faces 20 will measure approximately 4%; inches. The length of the are 25 will be about .03 of an inch greater than this. However, this means only that the bulged section will slip slightly over the material while the latter is being pressed down on to the cutting and scoring rules. the cutting and scoring of the blank will be very small and well within the allowable plus and minus limits for cutting cartons.

The present invention greatly speeds up the output and reduces the labor cost in cuttingcarton blanks. The card-board for making the blanks is fed continuously-between the cylinders which are driven at uniform speed and continuously cut out the carton blanks. The cutting rules may be made so as to completely sever the blankswfrom each other'and also completely'sever the scrap pieces 26. The complete carton: blanks and pieces of scrap will fall out as they-reach the lower side of the roll cylinder l6; or if desired means may be provided for separately removing thescrap by suction or other means.

This operation is in contrast to present practi'cewhere the cardboard must first be cut into sheets and then the rules must be provided with notches or open spaces so as to hold the carton blanks in a continuous sheet, and to leave the scrap pieces adhering to the blanks from which they-must be broken loose after the-blanks are separated from each other. Also the cylinders are operative throughout their entire revolution as against 33% maximum operative time with'flat bed reciprocating presses.

I have illustrated the cylinders in'Fig. l'as adapted to out two sets of blanks at one time, but the number to be cut will depend upon the le'ngthof the cylinders and sizes of the blanks and' may be any number within allowable limits.

The faces 25 of the bulged sections-24 preferably are arcs of circles because of their ease ofconstruction. In order to obtain uniform contact with tthe'rules 22' on' the flats 20 over the entire area, I build the usual cut-out paper makereadys under the knives.

- Having thus described and illustrated What I now believe to'be the best form of my invention, I claim all modifications and adaptations thereof that may come within the terms-or scope-of my claims.

Any error that mayoccur inv 1. In a rotary carton press, the combination of a frame, a rule cylinder and a pressure cylinder mounted therein to rotate in fixed relation to one another with their surfaces in contact, the surface of the rule cylinder having a number of fiat faces thereon out below the circumference and separated by cylindrical sections, curved and angular rules secured'to said. flat faces with their outer operative edges lying parallel to the plane of the respective flat faces, rules for making straight cuts and scores secured to said cylindrical surfaces,-the surface of the pressure cylinder having cylindrical sections opposed to and rolling in contact with the operative edges of said straight rules and having outwardly bulging curved sections opposed to and rolling in contact with the operative edges of the rules on the flat faces of the rule cylinder.

2. he rotary cutting press, the combination of a frame, a rule cylinder mounted to rotate therein'and:having alternate cylindrical and flat faces thereon, cutting andscoring rules secured to said cylindrical and flat faces, a pressure cylinder mounted to rotate in said frame and. having alternate cylindrical and bulging faces thereon, said cylinders being mounted to rotate in fixed relation to one another with their surfaces'in contact, the-cylindrical faces being opposed to and. rollingon the rules in the cylindrical faces of the rule cylinder and the bulging faces being opposed to and rolling on the rules in the flat faces of the rule cylinder.

3. In arotary cutting press, the combination of a frame, a rule cylinder mounted to' rotate therein and having alternate cylindrical and flat faces thereon, cutting and scoring rules secured to said cylindrical and. flat faces, a pressure cylinder mounted to rotate in said frame and-having alternate cylindrical and bulging faces thereon,- the cylindrical faces being opposed to and rolling on the-rules in the cylindrical. faces-of-the rule cylinder and the bulging faces being'opposed toand rolling on the rules in the-fiat faces of the rule cylinder, said bulging faces being curved on a radius less than the radius of the pressure cylinder.

BRUCE J. DAVIDSON,

REFERENGES CITED The following references are of recordv in the fileof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,487,662 Langston Mar. 18, 1924s 2;301,566' Moore Nov. 10, 1942 

